How to Prepare a Room For a Hand Painted Border

A hand painted border can add a touch of class to any room. Before you can start painting, you have to prepare the room. I recommend reading all the directions and the tips at the end before you begin.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Drop cloths or old sheets
• Newspaper
• Rags
• 3/4 inch (blue) painter's tape (2-3 rolls is sufficient for most rooms)
• Tape measure
• Chalk
• Yard stick or straight edge

1. Using the tape measure and chalk make small marks on the wall 42 inches above the floor. These marks should be about 1 foot apart.

2. Using a straight edge draw a line with the chalk connecting the marks.

3. Decide how wide you would like your border to be.

4. Make another set of marks 4 to 8 inches above the first set, depending on the width of the border you are planning. Use the straight edge to connect these marks so that you now have two parallel lines all the way around the room.

5. To check if your lines are straight stand in the corner of the room and squat down so you are looking straight down each line. Make any adjustments necessary.

6. Tear off a piece of tape about a yard long. Carefully press the edge of the tape against the bottom of the lower chalk line. Repeat this all the way around the room.

7. Tape the top chalk line in the same way, except this time put the tape just above the chalk line.

8. Move all furniture out of the way of the walls where you will be painting.

9. Cover the floor with drop cloths all the way around the room. Tape newspaper over any baseboards, chair rails, or vents below where you will be painting to protect from drips.

10. Use a damp rag to wipe the chalk off the wall while pressing the edge of the tape down tight.

11. Now you are ready to hand paint a border or to roll the taped off area with an accent color of your choice.

Tips & Warnings

• As you press each piece of tape onto the wall overlap the last piece by about an inch. This will assure that there is no obvious seam between the two pieces of tape.
• If your walls are white you may find that white chalk doesn't show up enough to work with easily. In this case you can use yellow or pink chalk. Always use the lightest color possible so that it can be easily washed off.
• Make sure the paint on your walls is completely dry before pressing any tape onto them. Otherwise you could have problems with paint lifting off with the tape when you are done.
• When you are ready to start painting make sure you put several layers of newspaper under the open paint can to prevent spills.